Book Review: Olivia Twisted by Vivi Barnes

Title: Olivia Twisted
Author: Vivi Barnes
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Published: November 5, 2013
This arc was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

From Goodreads:

He tilts my chin up so my eyes meet his, his thumb brushing lightly across my lips. I close my eyes. I know Z is trouble. I know that being with him is going to get me into trouble. I don’t care.

At least at this moment, I don’t care.

Tossed from foster home to foster home, Olivia’s seen a lot in her sixteen years. She’s hardened, sure, though mostly just wants to fly under the radar until graduation. But her natural ability with computers catches the eye of Z, a mysterious guy at her new school. Soon, Z has brought Liv into his team of hacker elite—break into a few bank accounts, and voila, he drives a motorcycle. Follow his lead, and Olivia might even be able to escape from her oppressive foster parents. As Olivia and Z grow closer, though, so does the watchful eye of Bill Sykes, Z’s boss. And he’s got bigger plans for Liv…

Z

I can picture Liv’s face: wide-eyed, trusting. Her smooth lips that taste like strawberry Fanta.

It was just a kiss. That’s all. She’s just like any other girl.

Except that she’s not.

Thanks to Z, Olivia’s about to get twisted.


My Thoughts:

When I received an arc copy of Olivia Twisted, I was thrilled. I was really wanting something different to read, and a story about teenage computer hackers,  that was loosely based on the classic novel Oliver Twist, sounded intriguing.  I hadn't read Oliver Twist in years, and had forgotten many of the details of the story. That was a good thing though, because I didn't want to keep comparing it to Olivia Twisted.

I really wanted to love this book.  At first, I really liked the main character, Olivia (Liv), a sixteen year old girl, who has been in many foster homes. This has led her to become a bit jaded when it comes to trusting people and getting attached. Despite all of that,  Liv is very smart- she gets stellar grades and has is great with computers.  She had plans on attending a well respected university, and making a good life for herself.

 In the beginning of this story, she is placed in a new home. Right off the bat, she gets a feeling that something is not quite right with her new foster parents. Turns out, her suspicions were valid.

I have to say, I was enjoying reading Olivia Twisted up until this point.  I guess I was hoping that Liv would triumph for good and use her brains to get far in life.  This all seemed to go out the window when she met Samantha (Sam) and  Z (yep, that's what he legally changed his name to).  Now first off, let me just say that I love reading about bad boys in my books. I mean, 9/10 times,  I will fall for the bad guy versus the good, nice guy.  However, Z was a different story.  He's basically a thief, and doesn't see anything wrong with stealing.  He basically justifies it. You see, Z is a computer hacker. A very very good computer hacker.  He and Sam are also orphans who work for a man named, "Bill", and their main job is to crack into the accounts of big businesses, banks, or from the wealthy, and take their money.  They justify their actions by saying that all these corporations are stingy (granted- some are), don't deserve their wealth, and don't donate to charities for the right reasons, therefore it's ok to just help themselves to it. It almost seems hypocritical to me. I mean, do these hackers deserve it either?  In a lot of ways, computer hacking is a game to them.  I found it difficult to believe that these teens never slipped up or got caught by the authorities.  Another thing that struck me as odd, was that they made it sound so easy, when in reality many of these business and accounts have top notch software. I was so sad to see Liv succumb to all this and take this route. I believe having nowhere to go and finding a new family among kids who she could relate to, sealed the deal.

Z also disappointed me when something terrible happens in the story, and instead of getting help from authorities, he tries to fix the problem himself (using his hacking skills). He tries to play judge and dish out his own justice (mind you, this kid is only sixteen or seventeen).  

There were a few other things that made me not love this book too. I just didn't get attached to any of the characters, and found plot holes here and there.  I didn't root for a romance between Z and Liv, and I was really surprised that she trusted him to begin with. He did a couple of questionable things, that I don't want to spoil my readers with, but let's just say it would cause me to run from this guy.

I feel bad rating Olivia Twisted, 2 Stars, but I had to be honest with myself and anyone else who might be reading my review.

Rating: 2 Stars